Ca' d'Zan -The Ringling Mansion

Today I visited the Ca' d'Zan mansion where John & Mabel Ringling once lived. It is now part of the Ringling Museum and has been described as "the last of the Gilded Age mansions." When I walked into the 56 room palace on the Sarasota Bay today for a self-guided tour, the docent said to me . . . 
"Welcome to 1926." 

There is quite a lot of history to this 36,000 sq ft waterfront home sitting on a site 1,000 ft long and 3,000 feet wide. My blip today shows part of the 82 foot high tower and open air landing -Look at those details! The inside of the home is richly appointed; A crystal chandelier from the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel hangs in the living room. John & Mabel Ringling were one of America’s wealthiest couples. John Ringling bequeathed his estate to the people of Florida when he passed in 1936, but legal wrangling with his creditors went on for nearly a decade until the property finally went unencumbered to the state. During this time Ca’ d’Zan remained closed and finally, in 1946 it was reopened to the public.

I have enjoyed my husband's tweaking (painting) of his photos for his own blips so much that I copied him and used Google+ photo editing tools tonight for the Ca’ d’Zan. That is what Steve uses... and I do like this result. The original photo can be seen here.

The other thing I did while at the Ringling today, just for fun, was to try using both my newly acquired Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 and the camera I have been using, my OM-D E-M10. The results were generally as I expected. The Lumix served me so well over a greater distance (and so smoothly it zooms I might add!). The OM-D is very sharp and clear especially with the close-ups I took in the rose garden. But the Lumix did surprise me with some of the closer shots, and my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 -wow! That was a surprise too. If you are interested, I have put them all in an album on flicker. 

I hope you enjoy, I did have a lot of fun! I have more reading to do, but just trying out the new camera at greater lengths today was good!! Thanks for your support yesterday when I announced I got it. I love my OMD, but think the Lumix is really going to fit in well and give me what I was not able to get with the OMD without out purchasing a very expensive, longer lens. I have found over the past six or 7 months that I don't really like changing lens. Now I can just change cameras! I am very grateful.